The Technology Industries of Finland and Aalto University joint letter regarding the "Building the European Data Economy" communication and consultation

The Technology Industries of Finland and Aalto University have sent a joint letter for the European Commission providing responses to the "Building the European Data Economy" consultation.

The key recommendations include:

Decisive EU regulatory action should be taken against forced data localization in member states, absent other effective measures.

Additional regulation regarding ownership of data and liabilities is unnecessary. Freedom of contract should particularly be respected as the basis of B2B relations.

Revising product liability to explicitly cover connected or automated products is not necessary, at least for the foreseeable future.

The DSM must avoid creating overlapping privacy rules that may hinder innovation and stifle competition.

While avoiding premature or unnecessary regulation, the EU should use other means at its disposal to speed up the development of European data economy, e.g. through the actions of the Digitizing European Industry initiative.

The EU should focus on ensuring that Europeans have the required digital skills to take advantage of the digital economy, as both empowered citizens and innovative employees.

The EU must stay mindful of the global market; ali regulatory and policy initiatives should be measured carefully against their potential impact on the global competitiveness of Europe and European businesses. Advancing European competitiveness should be a key target in all policy action.